Regulations for managed care companies?: Pointers included reminders to doctors to fulfil care to patients even

SINGAPORE - They are the middlemen linking employers with doctors and insurers, by handling workers' medical claims and reimbursing the physicians consulted. These managed care companies are a growing presence in group healthcare here, and doctors have been concerned for years about accompanying issues, such as low consultation fees and time lags in payment for services rendered. Now, the Singapore Medical Association, which represents the majority of doctors, wants managed care companies to be regulated. They should be licensed under "suitable legislation" such as the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act, SMA has proposed to governing body Singapore Medical Council. An increasing proportion of patients come under a managed care plan, said SMA president Chong Yeh Woei. "Most general practitioners will tell you anecdotally, from zero per cent, now 10 to 20 per cent of ...